THE LONDON REPORT
BRITAIN’S leading share index lost 1.2 per cent yesterday as a weak US housing report and cautious comments from the Bank of England governor raised investor concern over the pace of economic recovery.
At the close, the FTSE 100 was 60.10 points lower at 5,079.27, finishing below the 5,100 level for the first time in over a week.
Banks were the weakest sector after recovery uncertainties re-emerged, with Standard Chartered HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, and Royal Bank of Scotland shedding 0.9-2.5 per cent.
The FTSE 100 tracked a weaker Wall Street, with each of the major US indexes lower after an unexpected drop in sales of previously owned US homes in August.
Plumbing supplies firm Wolseley, which has exposure to the US housing market was the top individual blue-chip faller, down 4.5 per cent.
“House prices have to stop falling for the economy to recover and anything that suggests that they are not is going to knock the market,” said David Buik, senior partner at BGC Partners.
Sterling hit an 11-week low against the dollar as the US unit rallied on safe haven moves and after comments by Bank of England governor Mervyn King were seen as the green light for a weak currency.
King said people should not get too carried away, with any improvement likely to be small compared to the sharp drop in global output.
Commodity stocks were also among the worst blue-chip performers as worries over recovery knocked hopes for increased demand, pushing the crude price back towards $66 a barrel and weakening copper prices.
BG Group, BP, Tullow Oil, and Cairn Energy shed 1.2-3.4 per cent.
Miners retraced early gains, with Kazakhmys, Rio Tinto, Xstrata, BHP Billiton, and Anglo American closing 1.9-3.3 per cent lower.
Real estate issues lost ground, impacted by expectations for further capital raisings in the sector following a placing earlier this week by Liberty International.
Land Securities, Hammerson, British Land, Segro , and Liberty shed 2.8-3.9 per cent.